2003 Rugby World Cup Final

2003 Rugby World Cup Final

Telstra Stadium hosted the World Cup Final
Event	2003 Rugby World Cup
Australia England 17 20
After extra time
Date	22 November 2003
Venue	Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Referee	André Watson (South Africa)
Attendance	82,957

The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was won by England who defeated Australia 20 points to 17. The match went into extra time, in which Jonny Wilkinson kicked a dropped goal in the final minute to seal England's first Rugby World Cup title.

Path to the final

Australia opened the 2003 Rugby World Cup at Telstra Stadium in Sydney, where they beat Argentina 24–8. The next two pool games were against tier 3 nations Romania and Namibia. The match against Namibia resulted in a 142–0 smashing. The last pool match was against Ireland at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, where the Wallabies escaped with a one-point win, 17–16. They finished clearly on top of their pool, with 18 table points and a massive for and against.

England were in Pool C, and kicked off their campaign with an 84–6 win over Georgia, which was then followed by a match against their biggest opposition in the pool, South Africa. However, England beat the Springboks 25–6. Their third pool match against Samoa was a lot closer, England winning 35–22. Their final pool match was against Uruguay, which England won 111–13. England finished first in their pool, four table points ahead of the Springboks.

Australia met Scotland in the quarter finals at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and beat them 33–16 to go through to the semis, where they would take on their old rivals, the All Blacks. England beat Wales in their quarter final, 28–17, and went through to meet France in the semis. The Wallabies prevailed 22–10 over New Zealand at Telstra Stadium. The following day England beat France 24–7 at the same venue.

Match summary

First half

Kick-off was preceded by performances including Kate Ceberano singing True Colours (a theme throughout the World Cup), the Sydney's Children Choir and the Rugby World Choir singing the Rugby World Cup's official theme song, World in Union. Following these performances, the traditional national anthems were performed by Australia (Advance Australia Fair) and England (God Save the Queen).

The first points of the final were scored by Australia, in six minutes, Lote Tuqiri outjumped the much shorter Jason Robinson and scored a try, following a sensational cross field kick from Wallaby fly-half Stephen Larkham, the conversion unsuccessfully crashed against a post. Jonny Wilkinson kicked a penalty goal for England in the 11th minute, bringing the score to 5–3. A further penalty goal by Wilkinson in the 20th minute took England into the lead, 6–5. In the 28th minute, following a Wallabies infringement Wilkinson slotted a penalty to make it 9–5. Following a flowing attacking move involving English forwards and backs Robinson slid into the corner for a try for England in the 38th minute. England led at half-time 14–5.

Second half

Flatley kicked a penalty goal for Australia at the 47th minute, following the England scrummage being penalized by referee Andre Watson taking the score to 14–8. With England dominant in possession but lacking in finishing Wilkinson made 2 unsuccessful drop goal attempts. England's forwards were again penalized by Watson in the 61st minute, and Flatley kicked the penalty goal for Australia. England were again to suffer when Flatley kicked a penalty goal on the 80th minute, taking the score to 14-14, and the match headed into extra time.

Extra time

With nerves frayed among both sides and the thousands of fans in the Telstra Stadium Wilkinson and Flatley both scored penalties to put the score at a tantalising 17–17. After having the ball returned to England from a Mat Rogers kick, and with 26 seconds on the clock, Wilkinson kicked a drop goal right-footed and England held on to win their first Rugby World Cup 20-17.

Match details

22 November 2003 20:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

Australia	17–20 (a.e.t.)	England
Try: Tuqiri 6' m Pen: Flatley 47', 61', 80', 97'		Try: Robinson 38' m Pen: Wilkinson 11', 20', 28', 82' Drop: Wilkinson 100'

Telstra Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 82,957[1] Referee: André Watson (South Africa)

Australia

England

FB 15 Mat Rogers RW 14 Wendell Sailor  71' OC 13 Stirling Mortlock IC 12 Elton Flatley LW 11 Lote Tuqiri FH 10 Stephen Larkham  temp' SH 9 George Gregan (c) N8 8 David Lyons  57' OF 7 Phil Waugh BF 6 George Smith RL 5 Nathan Sharpe  48' LL 4 Justin Harrison TP 3 Al Baxter HK 2 Brendan Cannon  57 ' LP 1 Bill Young  92' Replacements: HK 16 Jeremy Paul  57' PR 17 Matt Dunning  92' LK 18 David Giffin  48' N8 19 Matt Cockbain  57' SH 20 Chris Whitaker FH 21 Matt Giteau  temp' WG 22 Joe Roff  71' Coach: Eddie Jones

FB 15 Josh Lewsey  85' RW 14 Jason Robinson OC 12 Mike Tindall  79' IC 13[a] Will Greenwood LW 11 Ben Cohen FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Matt Dawson N8 8 Lawrence Dallaglio OF 7 Neil Back BF 6 Richard Hill  93' RL 5 Ben Kay LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Phil Vickery  86' HK 2 Steve Thompson LP 1 Trevor Woodman Replacements: HK 16 Dorian West PR 17 Jason Leonard  86' LK 18 Martin Corry FL 19 Lewis Moody  93' SH 20 Kyran Bracken FH 21 Mike Catt  79' FB 22 Iain Balshaw  85' Coach: Sir Clive Woodward

Statistics

Team statistics
Nations	Tries	Conversions	Penalties	Dropped Goals	Scrums	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
England	1	0	4	1	12	0	0
Australia	1	0	4	0	9	0	0

After the final

Celebrations in London.

The English squad arrived at London's Heathrow Airport to a huge reception of English fans. Captain Martin Johnson, holding the trophy, was the first player to appear, which resulted in a celebration of singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Scrum-half Matt Dawson described the reception as "mind blowing" and hooker Steve Thompson said that "Walking through Heathrow was breathtaking".^[2]

A national day of celebration was held on Monday, 8 December. Thousands of fans lined the streets of London to pay tribute to the World Cup victory, as the team paraded in open-top buses from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, awarded the whole squad the freedom of London . The English squad then went on to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace, followed by a reception at Downing Street with then Prime Minister Tony Blair.^[3]

In the subsequent New Year's Honours List, the entire English team and coaching staff was also either appointed to or promoted within the Order of the British Empire, with each man awarded at least an MBE. Jason Robinson, Wilkinson, Leonard, head assistant Andy Robinson and RFU chief executive Francis Baron were awarded OBEs, while Johnson was appointed a CBE and Woodward was knighted.^[4]

Notes